Sixteen students have been awarded research fellowships by ND Energy to conduct energy-related research at the University of Notre Dame during summer 2016 and the 2016-2017 academic year. Eleven undergraduate students received The Vincent P. Slatt Fellowship for Undergraduate Research in Energy Systems and Processes, nine from the University of Notre Dame and two from colleges affiliated with the Atlanta University Consortium. Five graduate students from the University of Notre Dame received The Patrick and Jana Eilers Graduate Student Fellowship for Energy Related Research. The recipients of these awards represent four Notre Dame Colleges and Schools, including Architecture, Arts & Letters, Engineering, and Science.
According to Dr. Peter C. Burns, Massman Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences and ND Energy Director, “The award recipients this year are well prepared and certainly deserving of this outstanding recognition. Having the opportunity to work with our esteemed faculty will enhance their educational experiences at Notre Dame while supporting our mission to advance the energy-related research at Notre Dame. I congratulate each of the awardees and wish them the very best as they pursue their research interests in energy and accelerate their knowledge and understanding of some of the most critical energy challenges facing us today. We are truly grateful to the alumni families who have made these fellowships possible. It is through their generosity and support that we are able to match student and faculty interests in energy and enable a collaborative research experience.”
The 2016 Slatt Scholars are as follows:
Undergraduate Awardees
Theodore Dilenschneider in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering will work with Dr. William Phillip to complete research on plug and play membranes: incorporating biofouling resistance into charged nanofiltration membranes.
Peter Chiang in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering will study the electrochemical CO2 reduction on heterogeneous porphyrin-graphene oxide thin films towards the generation of chemical fuels with Dr. Prashant Kamat.
Jaclyn Breier in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering will investigate the effect of polymer chain rigidity on gas transport properties through the design of triptycene-based copolymers under the advisement of Dr. Ruilan Guo.
Alexandria Gordon in the School of Architecture will work with Dr. Aimee Buccellato on a green resilience framework for sustainable and hazard resilient structures.
John FitzPatrick in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences will study the thermal stability of uranium peroxide nanoclusters with Dr. Peter Burns.
Patricia Kay in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering will work with Dr. Amy Hixon to research actinide sorption to aluminum (hydr)oxide mineral phases.
Rodrigo Benavides in Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics will study a country’s approach to the 2015 Paris Agreement, comparing and contrasting renewable energy policies and implementations in different countries under the advisement of Dr. Patrick Regan.
Clare Murphy in Classics and Environmental Science will work with Dr. Ian Lightcap to complete research on iron (III) oxide/graphene nanostructures for solar water splitting.
Kelly Valenzi in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering will research the Perdigao wind energy mapping project with Dr. Harindra Fernando.
Herve Twahirwa in Applied Math and Physics at Millsaps College in Atlanta, Georgia will work with Dr. Ruilan Guo on the studies of sulfonated triptycene-containing random polysulfone copolymers for polyelectrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs).
Winston Zamba in Applied Physics and Mechanical Engineering at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia will work with Dr. Prashant Kamat to perform research on perovskite solar cell and nanostructure assemblies for light energy conversion.
Ph.D. Awardees
Joseph Aboki of the Guo Research Group in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering will study multiblock copolymers of triptycene-containing sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone)s with enhanced low RH proton conductivity and mechanical stability for polyelectrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs).
Yingying Cheng of the Wei Research Group in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences will look at engineering robust yeast for enhanced biofuel production from renewable lignocellulosic biomass.
Jacob Hoffman of the Kamat Research Group in Chemistry and Biochemistry will study CsPbBr3 and CsPbI3 quantum dot film deposition for the development of solid state solar cells. Jacob’s research also will be supported by the 2016 Forgash Fellowship for Research in Solar Energy.
Prateek Mehta of the Schneider Research Group in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering will study multifunctional materials for the catalytic upgrading of natural gas liquids.
Tyler Spano of the Burns Research Group in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences will look at materials properties of synthetic uranyl vanadate mineral analogues.
The Vincent P. Slatt Endowment for Undergraduate Research in Energy Systems and Processes supports undergraduate students who have research interests in energy technologies and America’s energy future. Energy technologies range from the means to improve the use of fossil, nuclear, and alternative energy sources for power or fuels production, to the development of more efficient transportation and energy utilization systems. Projects are focused on creating better energy systems and devices or strengthening America’s energy future through the development of policies and infrastructure to support new technologies. Since 2006, annual fellowships have been made possible through the generosity of Christopher (ND ’80) and Jeanine Slatt in honor of Vincent P. Slatt, Notre Dame Class of 1943.
Beginning in 2012, Slatt fellowships have been awarded to undergraduate students affiliated with the Atlanta University Consortium (AUC). The AUC is the world’s largest consortium of African American private institutions of higher education, designed to channel intellectual resources to the advancement of minority, economically disadvantaged, and under-served communities.
The Patrick and Jana Eilers Graduate Student Fellowship for Energy Related Research combined with The Fitzpatrick Endowment for Excellence for the Center for Energy supports the stipends of graduate students to enable their work on current or new energy-related research projects at Notre Dame. Since 2012, annual fellowships have been made possible through the generosity of Patrick (ND ‘90) and Jana Eilers and Edward Fitzpatrick, Jr. (ND ‘54).
The Forgash Fellowship for Research in Solar Energy supports a student who is interested in solar energy collection/conversion technologies through research and development at Notre Dame. Since 2009, the annual fellowship has been made possible through the generosity of John (ND ‘00) and Karla Forgash.
For more information, contact Barbara Villarosa, Business and Communications Program Director, at 574-631-4776 or bvillaro@nd.edu.
Originally published by Barbara Villarosa at energy.nd.edu on May 26, 2016.